Thousands of Hong Kong people Participate in Demonstrations despite the Prohibition

Thousands of Hong Kong residents are walking a protest march on the main island on Saturday, where they have also placed several roadblocks. The police had issued a demonstration ban earlier this week.

The police emphasize that Hong Kongers are participating in a prohibited meeting. The day before a warning was issued for prison sentences of up to five years.

Traffic is experiencing major nuisance from the roadblocks, the police report. The protesters are urged to stop their actions immediately because they are guilty of criminal offences.

As a precaution, the police have placed barriers around important government buildings. Two water cannons are also available. They were used last weekend for the first time since the outbreak of the current unrest.

Several prominent pro-democratic activists were arrested on Friday. Joshua Wang, who became famous worldwide in 2014 as a major leader of the Occupy protests, was one of them. He expresses strong criticism of the police.

“It is completely ridiculous for the police to pick up specific prominent figures from earlier movements and put them in charge of the protests,” he writes Twitter. The activist emphasizes that the protest movement has no leaders.
The demonstrations started three months ago out of dissatisfaction with a bill that allows extradition to China, but in the meantime, the participants are also expressing dissatisfaction with other issues in the region.

The protesters demand, among other things, the definitive withdrawal of the extradition bill, the departure of leader Carrie Lam, a free investigation into police brutality and amnesty for arrested demonstrators.

China, according to insiders, discussed the demands of the Hong Kong demonstrators last summer, which Lam had submitted to Beijing. However, the Chinese authorities would have wiped them off the table.

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